Prodi document leak causes dismay among commissioners

THE European Commission faced a mini-crisis in the past week after a European constitution secretly drafted by officials on the orders of Romano Prodi was leaked to the press before being discussed by his colleagues.

European Voice

12/11/02, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/12/14, 8:33 AM CET

The Commission president sparked dismay among his team when he unveiled the 177-page draft constitution, code-named Penelope.

“There was considerable upset at the table when it was obvious that there was a leak,” one commissioner told European Voice. Almost the entire College was unaware of the existence of the document.

Only a few insiders, including Commissioners Michel Barnier and António Vitorino, who represent the EU executive on the Convention’s praesidium, were in the know.

According to reports, one commissioner refused to open the document, saying he did not want to be associated with it. Another reportedly left the room. “The dismay was genuine,” an official said.

Prodi’s colleagues were upset that Penelope and the row surrounding its leak would eclipse the Commission’s official proposal on the future institutional structure of the EU, unveiled on 5 December, which they had spent months preparing.

One commissioner lamented: “Nobody talks about this paper which contains revolutionary proposals.

“The Penelope document and the way it was released overshadowed the official Commission’s proposal. The leak to the press and the College’s refusal to endorse it have also compromised its [Penelope’s] future. Such a waste of work.”

Officials say Penelope was deliberately leaked just a day after Prodi showed it to his colleagues. They refused to support it and the paper was presented to the Convention merely as a working document commissioned by the president.

Some commissioners were annoyed that Penelope differs on several points to the official paper.

Prodi’s colleagues have launched a damage-limitation exercise in a bid to avoid deepening the rift.